Tiffany Johnson 'was energetic for the Lord'

As Tiffany Johnson was growing up, she loved to go fishing with her dad.

At twilight, Tom Johnson would tell his little girl that it was time to go home, but she always suggested they wait a little longer, try a little harder.

Sure enough, the wait usually paid off -- and Tiffany would whisper, "Dad, I got one!"

"She was always such a patient person," Tom Johnson said Tuesday. "[Fishing] was something that was just our time. ... The one special thing we did together."

Tiffany Johnson had been working as a missionary for about three years, and was at a training center in Arvada, Colo., on Sunday when a gunman entered and opened fire.

Tom Johnson, who lives in Chisholm, Minn., said his daughter survived the ride to the hospital and tried to describe the gunman to an official in the ambulance. But she had been shot eight times, Johnson said. He was told his daughter died on the operating table.

"I always worried about her, of course, going to Egypt, going to Africa. So to be honest with you, I just always wanted her home," Johnson said. "And then I get her home and this happens."

"It's just not fair," he said in a telephone interview. "You just question God and say, 'Hey, why?' There just isn't an answer that I can come up with."

Family members and the Chisholm community where Tiffany grew up on Minnesota's Iron Range continued to look for answers Tuesday, and they remembered the 26-year-old as a loving, generous person who dedicated her life to helping others. According to her father, she even had her own personal motto: "I'm going to change the world by loving on people."

Johnson said he doesn't know what drove his daughter to missionary work, but she grew up in a Christian home. She began working with Youth With a Mission in 2006 as a student, and received additional training to become a staff person.

"When she set her goals, like in setting her goals on the Lord and on teaching other people ... no one was going to change her mind," Johnson said. "She was energetic for the Lord."

Her work with Youth With a Mission was scheduled to end in March, and she planned to attend the University of Minnesota. She wanted to study international business, with a focus on Japanese culture.

Her family said Tiffany loved working with children and wanted to have a family of her own. She also was described as an incredible aunt who spent time coloring, playing and skiing with her nephew and two nieces.

She was at the Youth With a Mission center in Arvada on Sunday when Matthew Murray, 24, entered and opened fire. Authorities said Murray had sent hate mail to the center in the past few weeks after being removed from the program years ago.

Tiffany's father said that he was still waiting for his daughter's body to be returned to Minnesota. Funeral arrangements are pending.

The family set up a memorial fund to help raise money for future youth missionaries. Johnson said his daughter often struggled to come up with funding for her missions, and she would have wanted to give support to others.

"I don't know how anybody could make it through something like this without having faith," he said.